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Accounting Students’ Desire to Work asCertified Public Accountants (CPA):Empirical Evidence from Saudi Arabia

Ibrahim El-Sayed Ebaid

Department of Accounting , Faculty of Commerce, Tanta University, Egypt and Umm Al-Qura University,Saudi Arabia, E-mail: [email protected]

A B S T R A C T

Saudi Arabia is a unique case as it is one of the largest economiesin the Middle East region. According to the Ministry of Tradeand Investment, the total number of companies and institutionsin Saudi Arabia amounted to 1.13 million by the end of 2018.All of these companies and institutions need the services ofcertified public accountants, whether to audit the financialstatements, to approve Zakat and tax reports or other accountingand consulting services. Until the beginning of 2019, the totalnumber of certified public accountants in Saudi Arabia is 958,which is very low when compared with the level of publicaccountant’s needs in the market. Therefore, this study aims toexamine the desire of accounting students in Saudi universitiesto work as CPA, factors affecting accounting students to pursueCPA and challenges facing them in achieving their desire towork as CPA.Based on a questionnaire distributed to 101students in three Saudi universities, the findings suggest thatthe majority of the accounting students in Saudi universitieshave the desire to work as CPA. The finding also revealed thatthe most important factors that affect accounting students topursue CPA are: financial gains, professional developmentopportunities and opportunities to be independent. However,students have expressed some challenges that presentdifficulties in achieving their desire. These challenges includedifficultyof professional exam, high costs of training programsand failure of the accounting and auditing curricula in Saudiuniversities to include IFRS and international auditingstandards.

1. INTRODUCTION

The accounting profession has undergone major changes in recent years.Many researchers have identified information technology, globalizationand the changing economic environment as the major influences that have

International Journal of Auditing and Accounting Studies2 (2), 2020 : 193-211

A R T I C L E I N F O

Received: 27 July 2020

Revised: 21 August 2020

Accepted: 26 August 2020

Online: 20 October 2020

Keywords:Saudi Arabia, CPA,Accounting students ,Accounting Challenges

ARF INDIAAcademic Open Access Publishingwww.arfjournals.com

194 Ibrahim El-Sayed Ebaid

accelerated the changes in the accounting profession (Parker, 2001;Holtzman, 2004). The accounting profession today requires a new type ofprofessional accountants with diverse knowledge, skills and competencesquite different from those in previous decades. After graduation, accountingstudents can choose among some careersincluding certified publicaccountant (CPA). CPA works for a public accounting firm that performsauditing, tax, consulting and other accounting services for businesses,organizations or individuals. Prior studies have documented a shortage inthe supply of professional accountants to meet the evergrowing demandin many countries (e.g., Nor et al., 2013; Van Zyl & de Villiers, 2011). Thisshortage has received considerable interest in accounting research,particularly in the field of accounting education. Several researchers arguethat the accounting profession has lost its ability to attract top studentsresulting in concerns about its future (e.g.,Byrne & Willis, 2005; Marriott &Marriott, 2003; Albrecht & Sack, 2001). Prior studies have indicated thatthe attitudes towards accounting profession are determined by a numberof different factors such as stereotypical negative perception of the publicaccountants, job satisfaction, salary, prestige or status, job security orstability, reference groups, parental and family influence, spousal support,and teachers encourage (e.g.,Omar et al., 2019; Tang & Seng, 2016; Wen etal., 2015; Van Zyl & de Villiers., 2011; Jackling & Calero, 2006; Byrne &Willis, 2005; Pollock et al., 2002; Nelson et al., 2002; Mounce & Mauldin,1998; Ahmed et al., 1997; Hermanson & Hermanson, 1995).

Until now, the evidence provided by the prior studies clearly points tothe fact that a complexity of factors is responsible for the decision of studentsin many parts of the world, whether to choose accounting as a major orchoose to work as a certified public accountant after graduation.Accordingly, there is a lack of knowledge of what specific factors areinfluential in the career choice of the students. Hofstede (1998) has arguedthat students from countries with different cultural and stage of economicdevelopment backgrounds have different perceptions of the profession thatmay affect their career choice. Tan et al. (2006), for example, document thatthe significance of influence of reference groups is mediated by culture ofthe country. They find that the international students (mainly Chinese)placed more value on the advice of parents, other relatives, friends andcareer advisors than domestic students (New Zealanders).

This paper contributes to the existing accounting literature byinvestigating key factors affecting accounting students to pursue publicaccounting in Saudi Arabia as an emerging country. Extensive researchhas been conducted to investigate important factors influencing the careerdecisions of accounting students in the developed countries (e.g., Buchheit

Accounting Students’ Desireto Work as Certified Public Accountants (CPA): 195

et al., 2016; Dalton et al., 2014; Bagley et al., 2012; Levy et al., 2011).In spite ofthe critical role accounting students’ perception play in determining theirchoice of accounting careers, there is very limited empirical studies thatexamine the phenomenon in developing countries in general. Saudi Arabiais one of the largest economies in the Middle East with a population ofmore than 32 million people and GDP 786.5 M.$by the end of 2018. Thedata issued by the Ministry of Trade and Investment revealed that the totalnumber of companies and institutions existing in Saudi Arabia amountedto 1.13 million by the end of 2018. These companies and institutions belongto several sectors which include wholesale and retail trade, commercialservices, construction, transportation, storage and refrigeration, social andpersonal services, agriculture, fishing and forestry, power generation andwater extraction, petroleum, business and financial services, and variousservices. All of these companies and institutions need the services ofcertified public accountants, whether to audit the financial statements, toapprove Zakat and tax reports or other accounting and consulting services.In Saudi Arabia, accounting study program is one of the favorite programin every new admission in Saudi’ universities. But the fact, the rising in anumber of Saudi’s accounting students is not followed by increasing thenumber of CPA significantly. Accounting graduates in Saudi Arabia at leasthave three alternatives for their future. Firstly, after completing accountingeducation at bachelor level, students can immediately work in anyaccounting jobs and not necessarily in accounting firms. Secondly, theycan continue their academic education in postgraduate level. Thirdly, theycan continue their professional certification to become public accountants.In conclusion, after completing the undergraduate degree program ofaccounting majors, the accounting students may choose to work as publicaccountants or nonpublic accountants. Public accountants in Saudi Arabiamust have a degree in accounting and also after that required to take thefellowship exam held by the Saudi Organization of Certified PublicAccountants (SOCPA) which includes five main areas: accounting, auditing,zakat and taxes, commercial laws and the jurisprudence of financialtransactions. Until thebeginning of 2019, the number of certified publicaccountants who obtained the practice license from the Saudi Organizationof Certified Public Accountants (SOCPA) is 958. The number is still verylow when compared with the level of public accountant’s needs in themarket.In order to investigate the cause of very low number of publicaccountants in Saudi Arabia, it is important to gain insight from accountingstudents. For students, the selection of a professional career is the firststep in the world of work and career selection is certainly influenced byvarious factors.Therefore, the first question of this study is what are the


factors that influence the desire of accounting students in Saudiuniversities towards choosing work as certified public accountants? Thesecond question iswhat are the challenges facing the students in achievingtheir desire to work as a certified public accountant?.To answer thequestions raised, Section 2 of this study provides an institutionalbackground on the accounting profession in Saudi Arabia. Section 3examines extant literature on the factors influencing public accountingcareer choice. Section 4 explains the research method used in this studyand Section 5 reports the result of the study, while Section 6 is conclusionsand recommendations.

2. ACCOUNTING PROFESSION IN SAUDI ARABIA

By the beginning of 1930s, the accountingprofession acquired the attentionof the authorities in Saudi Arabia. The Commercial Lawwhich was issuedin June 1931by Royal Decree No. 32 required companies to maintain someaccounting records. In 1965, CompaniesLaw was issued by Royal DecreeNo. M/6 which required companies to prepare financial statements to beaudited by a licensed CPA. It also included provisions that govern theassignment of a CPA and a definition of the scope of his responsibilities.The resolution of the Minister of Commerce No. 422, issued in 1968 specifiedcertain requirements that should be complied with in order to practiceauditing in the Saudi Arabia. This resolution was in force until issuingCPA Law in 1974, which was the first foundation stone, lay to organize theaccounting profession in Saudi Arabia. A higher committee for certifiedpublic accounting was established, in accordance with the Law, to superviseand monitor the profession. In 1981, King Saud University commenced tohold a series of symposiums about accounting development methods inSaudi Arabia, in order to reach suitable recommendations for resolvingout any obstacles that may hinder the development of the profession. Also,in 1981, the Academic Board allowed King Saud university to establishSaudi Accounting Association. The purpose of this association is to promoteaccountancy thoughts, exchange of ideas and academic productions,consultation and conducting studies.The efforts made by the Saudi Ministryof Commerce culminated in the issue of Royal Decree No. M/12 in 1992authorizing the passage of thenew CPA Law. Article 19 of thisLaw statedthat an Organization shall be established under the name of (SaudiOrganization for Certified Public Accountants “SOCPA”). It shall operateunder the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce in order to promotethe accounting and auditing profession and all matters that might lead tothe development of the profession and improve its status. A new CPA Lawsets the following objectives for SOCPA:


• Review, develop and approve accounting standards.

• Review, develop and approve auditing standards.

• Establish the necessary rules for fellowship certificate examination(CPA exam.) including professional, practical and scientific aspectsof audit profession and applicable regulations.

• Organize continuous education programs.

• Establish an appropriate quality review program in order to ensurethat Certified Public Accountants implement professionalstandards and comply with the provisions of Certified PublicAccountants law.

• Conduct special research work and studies covering accounting,auditing and other related subjects.

• Publish periodicals, books and bulletins covering accountancy andaudit related subjects.

• Participate in local and international committees and symposiumsrelating to the profession of accounting and auditing.

To work as certified public accountant, after the student has obtained abachelor’s degree in accounting (or a bachelor’s degree in businessadministration, finance, information systems, provided that he/she haspassed 21 credit hours in accounting), the student must pass a fellowshipexam that is held by the SOCPA which examines the competence ofindividuals who desire to obtain SOCPA fellowship certificate regardingtheir theoretical knowledge and their ability to apply it skillfully, and theextent of their grasp of professional responsibility and the ethical attributesthat a certified public accountants should have.The examconsists of thefollowing five subjects: Accounting, Auditing, Zakat and Tax, Jurisprudenceand Business Law.

3. LITERATURE REVIEWDEVELOPMENT OF HYPOTHESES

Students’ perception has an important influence on their career decision.Career decision plays a major role in the way students recognize their futurecareer prospects. There are many factors that influence accounting students’perceptions on professional accounting career. This study examines sixfactors, which have been previously documented by literature.

3.1. Financial Gains

Ahmed et al. (1997) examined the factors that influence accounting studentsin New Zealand in their choice of career, either in chartered accountancyor of a nonaccounting career. They reported that students who intended


to select a career in chartered accountancy were significantly influencedby financial and market factors, and perceived the benefits of a career as achartered accountant to be greater than the associated costs. Mauldin (1998)found that, according to faculty members of American universities whoteach the first course in accounting, the three most important factors thataffect students in their choice of accounting programs are: interest in thesubject, career opportunities and salaries. Nelson et al. (2002) reported thatavailability of accounting jobs, good salaries and interesting/excitingprofession are the most important factors to have influenced the Americanaccounting students in their study to pursue accounting as a major. Chen,et al., (2008) found that students’ perceptions about accounting change overtime during their education, the perceptions being differentially associatedwith benefits and costs. Dalci et al. (2013) found that accounting studentsin Iran attach more importance to financial and job market factors andtheir perceptions have significant influence their decision to major inaccounting. Ramadhan and Hudiwinarsih (2015) showed that the mainfactors considered by the students in the choice of accounting professioninclude salaries and labor market of career path length. Laksmi and AlHafis (2019) demonstrated that financial rewards and labor marketconsiderations positively influence the interests of accounting students tobecome a public accountant in Indonesia. Based on the above discussion,this study hypothesizes that:

H1. There is a relationship betweenfinancial gains factor and students’ desireto work as certified public accountants (CPA).

3.2. Status and Prestige in Society

The perceived prestige of the accounting profession plays a critical rolein students’ decision to work as certified public accountants (CPA).Students who perceive the accounting profession to be prestigious usuallyhave greater motivation to pursue a career in accounting. Albu et al. (2014)provided an overview of thestudents’ perceptions on the image of theaccounting profession in Romania. The important position in the societyis the most important factor chosen by the students interviewed whenthey decided to opt for the accounting profession. Ramadhan andHudiwinarsih (2015) showed that the main factors considered by thestudents in the choice of accounting profession include professionalrecognition, social values and the opportunity to interact with others.Laksmi and Al Hafis (2019) demonstrated that professional recognitionpositively influences the interests of accounting students to become apublic accountant in Indonesia. Based on the above discussion, this studyhypothesizes that:


H2. There is a relationship betweenstatus and prestige in society factor andstudents’ desire to work as certified public accountants (CPA).

3.3. Security or Stability of the Job

A study carried out by Byrne et al. (2012) investigated the factors thatinfluence the school leavers’ career decision in Ireland and had identifiedthat job satisfaction to be the most important criteria when selectingaccounting career, followed by good working conditions and careeraptitude. Albu et al. (2014) provided an overview of thestudents’ perceptions on the image of the accounting profession inRomania. They found that job stability has the lowest importance amongthe factors chosen by the students interviewed when they decided to optfor the accounting profession. Wen et al. (2018) analyzed the factors thatinfluence accounting students’ intention to pursue public accountinginstead of private accounting as their career choice in China. The authorsfound that high turnover plus, low firm cohesion in the workplace, andperceived difficulties in traveling extensively affected students’ intentionsto pursue the public accounting profession significantly. Based on the abovediscussion, this study hypothesizes that:

H3. There is a relationship between security or stability of the job factor andstudents’ desire to work as certified public accountants (CPA).

3.4. Opportunities for Independence

Ahmed et al. (1997) argued that students choosing accounting career placedgreater importance on intrinsic factors, specially, creativity and autonomy.Coate et al. (2003) surveyed undergraduates business students enrolled inaccounting principles in American universities about their views of theaccounting stereotype with respect to 30 personality traits. Their resultsshowed that the conventional accounting stereotype “appears alive andwell”. This stereotype has both positive and negative sides. On the negativeside, students perceived accountants as more formal and reserved, tendingto be skeptical, nonthrillseeking, less open to experience and workingalone with tedious numbers as compared to the average individual. Basedon the above discussion, this study hypothesizes that:

H4. There is a relationship exists between opportunities for independence factorand students’ desire to work as certified public accountants (CPA).

3.5. Professional Development Opportunities

The decision to work as certified public accountants (CPA) could beinfluenced by intrinsic interests of the students which are described by a


number of factors, including genuine interest in the field, opportunity tobe creative, intellectual challenge of the work, working challenge and thedynamics of the work environment. Ahmed et al. (1997) examined thefactors that influence accounting students in New Zealand in their choiceof career, either in chartered accountancy or of a nonaccounting career.They reported that students who intended to select a career in charteredaccountancy placed great importance on intrinsic factors, such asintellectual job. Hunt et al. (2004) found that business students had a morepositive view of accountants’ professionalism than of their personality,which was stereotyped as inflexible, unexciting and detailoriented.Ramadhan and Hudiwinarsih (2015) showed that the main factorsconsidered by the students in the choice of accounting profession includeprofessional training, professional recognition. Bekoe et al. (2018)demonstrated that intrinsic interest in the accounting discipline, priorexposure to accounting at the senior high level and the desire to pursueprofessional accounting qualification in future are good predictors ofstudents’ intention to major in accounting in Ghana.Laksmi and Al Hafis(2019) demonstrated that professional training positively influences theinterests of accounting students to become a public accountant in Indonesia.Also, Asriyati and Harun (2020) examine factors influence Indonesianaccounting students to have a career as qualified accountants. Thy concludethat only one variable, namely the opportunity to progress variable,influences the desire to have a career as a qualified accountant, while theother two variables, namely salary and student perceptions of accountants,are found to have no effect. Based on the above discussion, this studyhypothesizes that:

H5. There is a relationship between professional development opportunitiesfactor and students’ desire to work as certified public accountants (CPA).

3.6. Influence of Others (Reference Group).

It is believed that the career choice decisions of students are usually notmade without recourse to some form from social expectations. Studentsare usually under pressure from people they perceive as important whenmaking choices. This group of people includes parents, relatives, friends,teachers, career counsellors and other professionals commonly referred toas the referent group. Law (2010) examined factors influencing theaccounting students’ career choice in public accounting practices in HongKong. His results indicated that intrinsic factors and parental influencehave significant influence on the decision whether to select a CPA careerwhile the financial rewards factor was not an influencing factor on thecareer choice. The opinions of referents are also found to have significant


influence on students’ decision to major in accounting in Dalci et al. (2013)’study. Solikhah et al. (2018) concluded that behavioral intention can mediatethe influence of Indonesian students’ perceptions toward student’s careerchoices as a public accountant, but behavioral intention cannot mediatethe effect of parental influence on student’s behavioral to choose their career.Bekoe et al. (2018) indicated that family members, course instructors andother referent group play a crucial role in influencing students’ intentionto pursue a career in accounting. Based on the above discussion, this studyhypothesizes that:

H6. There is a relationship exists between influence of others (reference group)factor and students’ desire to work as certified public accountants (CPA).

4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

4.1. Sample

Career planning iscrucial in achieving career success. It has muchexperienced by the final year students who will approach thegraduation,they desperately need input in career planning so that the studyperiod can be utilized effectively so that their time is not wasted. Therefore,research needs to be done to know the perception of accounting studentsabout the factors that differentiate career selection as public accountant,corporate accountant, government accountant, and educator accountant.Respondents of this study are 7thlevel and 8thlevelstudents in accountingdepartment from three Saudi universities: Umm AlQurauniversity,KingAbdulaziz University and King Saud University. The study focused on7thlevel and 8thlevel accounting students because they have alreadystudied all subjects about accounting and, therefore, they have made theircareer decisions. The questionnaire was administered in class to all 7thlevel and 8thlevel students in accounting department from the three Saudiuniversities. A total of 150 questionnaires were administered to therespondent group. Out of this number, 123 were returned representing 82per cent response rate. In total, 22 of the questionnaires received werehowever excluded from the final analysis because respondents did not fullyanswer the questions set remaining sample size of 101 students.Demographic profiles of the respondents are shown in Table I. Allparticipants are men, as mixing between men and women is prohibited inSaudi Arabia universities, and then there is difficulty in communicatingwith women. The majority of the participants (87.1 per cent) are between21 and 25 years old. 94 of participants representing 93 % are in 7thlevel, asthe study was conducted at the end of the first semester. In the first semester,registration is usually opened for students of the first, third, fifth and


seventh levels, in addition to some courses of eighth level for graduatestudents only.

Table IDemographic Profiles of the Participants

Category Scale N= 101 (100%)

Gender Male 101 (100%)

Age Under 21 9 (8.9 %)

21 25 88 (87.1%)

26 30 4 (4.0 %)

Semester 7thsemester 94 (93.0%)

8thsemester 7 (7.0 %)

University Umm AlQura 43 (42.5%)

King Abdulaziz 36 (35.6%)

King Saud 22 (22.0%)

4.2. Instrument development

This study is a crosssectional survey that sought to collect field data onthe perceptions of accounting students in Saudi Arabia universities towardsthe work as CPA. The questionnaire consisted of five sections.Section 1requires the students to fill out their demographic details, section 2 aimsto verify that the student has detailed information about the publicaccounting profession by answeringa yes or no question. Section 3 isdesigned to collect information related to students’ future plan aftergraduation. This section asked students about their desire to work as acertified public accountant or not, by answering a yes or no question whichrepresents the dependent variable for this study. Section 4 is developed tocollect information about the factors that lead students towards workingas a certified public accountant, which represents the independent variablesof this study. Using fivepoint Likert scales (1=strongly disagree to5=strongly agree), participants were requested to indicate their level ofagreement with each of the determined factors. Section 5 contains an openquestion regarding the challenges facing the students in achieving theirdesire to work as a certified public accountant. The current study tests sixfactors that can affect accounting students ’desire to work as acertified publicaccountant. These factors are: financial gains, status and prestige in society,security or stability of a job, opportunities to be independent, professionaldevelopment opportunities and the influence of others (reference group).These factors were adopted from a prior research (e,g., Omar et al., 2019;Laksmi & Al Hafis, 2019; Mbawuni, 2015; Ramadhan & Hudiwinarsih, 2015;Dalci et al. 2013; Germanou et al., 2009; Sugahara & Boland, 2006). Theresearch model can be described as follows:


Y = a + b1X1 + b2X2 + b3X3 + b4X4 + b5X5 + b6X6 +e

Y = desire of students to pursue a career as a qualified public accountant

X1 = financial gains

X2 = status and prestige in society

X3 = security or stability of a job,

X4 = opportunities to be independent

X5 = professional development opportunities

X6 = influence of others (reference group).

To ensure content validity, the survey instrument was vetted by fouracademics with expertise in the disciplines of finance and accounting inthree universities in Saudi Arabia. Based on their recommendations, someamendments were made on the questionnaire to improve its clarity. Thequestionnaires were administered and collected during December 2019and they were developed in Arabic language.

5. RESULTS

5.1. Students’ awarenessof Public Accounting Profession

Section 2 of the questionnaire aimed to verify that the student has detailedinformation about the public accounting profession. Table 2 providesdescriptive analysis on this section of the questionnaire. As shown in Table2, about 88.1 % of participants answered that they have knowledge of thepublic accounting profession in Saudi Arabia. Thishigh level of knowledgecould be explained by noting the SOCPA”s efforts to provide knowledgeabout the public accounting profession by holding continuous meetingswith students of accounting departments in Saudi universities.

Table 2Students’ awareness of Public Accounting Profession

Frequency Percentage (%)

Students have sufficient knowledge of the public 89 88.1%accounting profession

Students do not have sufficient knowledge of the 12 11.9%public accounting profession

5.2. Studentsʹ desire to Work as CPA

Section 3 of the questionnaire was designed to collect information relatedto studentsʹ future plan after graduation. This section asked students abouttheir desire to work as a certified public accountant or not, by answering a


yes or no question which represents the dependent variable for this study.Table 3 provides descriptive analysis on this section of the questionnaire.As shown in Table 3, the majority of the accounting students (66.3 %) havethe desire to work as CPA.

Table 3Students Desire to Work as Certified Public Accountant

Frequency Percentage (%)

Students have the desire to work as CPA 67 66.3%

Students do not have the desire to work as CPA 34 33.7

Total 101 100%

5.3. Determinants Studentsʹ desire to Work as CPA

Section 4 was developed to collect information about the factors that leadstudents towards working as a certified public accountant, which representsthe independent variables of this study as follows:

Studentsʹ desire to Work as CPA (Dependent Variable)

Independent Variables

financial status and security or opportunities professional influence ofgains prestige in stability of to be development others

society a job independent opportunities (referencegroup).

In the present study, multiple regression is employed to identify thestatistical relationship between studentsʹ desire to work as CPA asdependent variable and the six independent variables which are:financialgains, status and prestige in society, security or stability of a job,opportunities to be independent, professional development opportunitiesand influence of others (reference group). Generating a multiple regressionanalysis from SPSS includes an analysis of variance (ANOVA) table. Thisis used to assess whether at least one of the independent variables has asignificant linear relationship with the dependent variable. The nullhypothesis is that all the partial regression coefficients in the model arezero. The ANOVA table divides the total variance of the dependent variable,y, into two components: the relationship of y with all the xʹs, and the residual


variance. These two variances are compared in the table by calculatingtheir ratio, which follows the Ftest in order that a p value can bedetermined. If p<0.050, it is unlikely that the null hypothesis is true. Table4 represents analysis of variance (ANOVA)results. Based on this Table, allof the independent variables used in this study simultaneously influencethe dependent variable. This can be proven from probability value of 0,000(less than 0.05).

Table 4Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)

Source Sum of Square df Mean Square F Sig

Model 848.058 6 121.152 10.807 0.000

Residual 1053.768 94 11.454

Total 1901.826 100

The R square (R2) statistic is thesquare of a measured correlationbetween the observed and the predicted value and indicates the proportionof the variance in the criterion variable which is accounted for by the model.Therefore, the larger the R square, the more the dependent variable isassociated with the independent variables. Table 5 summarizes the modelʹsindependent variables ability to predict studentsʹ desire to work as CPA.The R value is 0.665, which indicates that there is a large correlation betweenthe predictor variables, all lumped together into one model. This modelcan explain 44% of the variances in studentsʹ desire to work as CPA.

Table 5Model Summary of standard regression

Model R R Square Adjusted R Std. Error ofSquare the Estimate

1 0.665 0.442 0.439 2.87201

The relative importance of the predictor variables in the regressionequation was assessed by means of the size of the standardized regressioncoefficient beta (p). The use of the standardized regression coefficients as ameans for discussing the relative importance of the predictors is universallyaccepted in the literature. Table 6 shows coefficients results of standardregression analysis.

As shown in Table 6, financial gains variable has a significant impacton the desire of Saudi accounting student to work as certified publicaccountant (pvalue 0.009). This finding is consistent with what has been


documented in prior studies. Many studies have argued that the salary orrewards factor is one of the most important factors for a graduate to decideon a career in accounting (e.g., Asriyati & Harun, 2020; Laksmi & Al Hafis,2019; Abdullah & Zakaria, 2006; Said et al, 2004). The results shown inTable 6 also indicate to insignificant relationship between the status andprestige variable and the studentsʹ desire to work as certified publicaccountant. (pvalue 0.307), this result suggests that status and prestige insociety has no impact on the studentsʹ desire to work as certified publicaccountant. This finding is similar to the finding documented in priorstudies (e.g., Bekoe et al. 2018).Job security and stability is not significantlyrelated to the studentsʹ desire to work as certified public accountant (pvalue 0.461). This result is not consistent with earlier findings by Ahmadiet al. (1995) and Germanou et al. (2009). Ahmadi et al (1995) found that jobsecurity and stability is one of the factors that is important to accountantsduring job selection. Germanou et al (2009) found that job security issignificantly related to Malaysian studentsʹ intention to pursue accountingcareer.The finding in Table 6 also reveal that both professional developmentopportunities and opportunities to be independent have significant impacton the desire of Saudi accounting student to work as certified publicaccountant ((pvalue 0.017 and 0.012 respectively). These finding areconsistent with prior studies. Abdullah and Zakaria (2006) found evidencethat opportunities to advance as the most important attribute for accountingstudents to join with public accounting firm especially among malestudents. This finding was reinforced by Mustapha and Abu Hassan (2012)who also found that opportunities for advancement were positivelycorrelated with studentsʹ career choices as professional accountants. Table6 shows that influence of others (reference group) has no significant impacton the desire of Saudi accounting student to work as certified publicaccountant (pvalue 0.692). However, prior research has documented mixedfindings about this variable. While many researchers confirmed that

Table 6Coefficients Results of Standard Regression Analysis

Variable Unstandardized Standardized t Sig.Coefficients Coefficients

financial gains 0.649 0.232 2.770 0.009

status and prestige in society 0.261 0.103 1.011 0.307

security or stability of a job 0.392 0.154 1.516 0.461

opportunities to be independent 0.844 0.302 3.601 0.012

professional development opportunities 1.233 0.441 5.263 0.017

influence of others (reference group). 0.588 0.231 2.274 0.692


referent group such as parents, parentsʹ occupation, teachers, counselorand friends could affect studentʹs career choice (Byre et al., 2012; Jackling etal., 2012; Tan & Laswad, 2006), others did not find any significantrelationship (Hermanson et al., 1995; Lowe & Simons, 1997).

5.4. Challenges facing the desire to work as CPA

Section 5 contained an open question regarding the studentsʹ opinions aboutthe challenges that could facing them in achieving their desire to work asa certified public accountant.Of course, this section asked to answer thisquestion from students who expressed their desire to work as certifiedaccountant. Students have expressed a number of challenges that they feelwill pose difficulties in achieving their desire to work as a certified publicaccountant. The most important challenges that students expressed are: 1)Difficulty of the fellowship exam held by the SOCPA to grant a license topractice the public accounting profession, which is evident from the verylow percentage of those who passed the exam in the past years comparedwith the number of exam applicants. 2) The training programs that qualifystudents to pass the fellowship exam, whether organized by the SOCPA orby private training centers are very expensive. 3) The fellowshipexamdepends mainly on international financial reporting standards IFRSand international auditing standards that began to be applied in SaudiArabia from 1/1/2017, while some Saudi universities still adopt localaccounting and auditing standards in their curricula.

6. CONCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS

Studentsʹ perception has an important influence on their career decision.Career decision plays a major role in the way students recognize their futurecareer prospects. Prior studies have documented a shortage in the supplyof professional accountants to meet the evergrowing demand in manycountries. Prior studies also indicated that the attitudes towards accountingprofession are determined by a number of different factors. Extensiveresearch has been conducted to investigate the factors influencing the careerdecisions of accounting students in the developed countries. In spite of thecritical role accounting studentsʹ perception play in determining their choiceof accounting careers, there is very limited empirical studies that examinethe phenomenon in developing countries in general. This paper contributesto the existing accounting literature by investigatingthe desire of accountingstudents in Saudi universities to work as certified public accountants, keyfactors affecting accounting students to pursue public accounting, andchallenges facing them in achieving their desire to work as certified publicaccountants. Based on questionnaire distributed to 101 students in three


Saudi universities, the findings suggested that the majority of theaccounting students in Saudi universities have the desire to work as CPA.The finding also revealed that the most important factors that affectaccounting students to pursue public accounting are: financial gains,professional development opportunities and opportunities to beindependent. However, students have expressed some challenges thatpresent difficulties in achieving their desire. These challenges includedifficulty of the fellowship exam held by the SOCPA to grant a license topractice the public accounting profession, which is evident from the verylow percentage of those who passed the exam in the past years comparedwith the number of exam applicants, the high costs of training programsthat qualify students to pass the fellowship exam, whether organized by theSOCPA or by private training centers and the failure of the accounting andauditing curricula in Saudi universities to include the international financialreporting standards IFRS and international auditing standards which thefellowship exam is based on. This research contributes to the academic debatesurrounding the concerns of the future of accounting profession and itsimplications for contemporary accounting education in developing countries.It also provides knowledge to the professional body in Saudi Arabia regardingareas of career orientation for Saudi students and challenges facing them.

Furthermore, this study suffers from some limitations. One of theselimitations is the small sample size. As this study relied only on a sampleof 101 respondents from three universities, other studies in the future canprovide deeper evidence using larger samples from larger number of Saudiuniversities. Another limitation is that all participants are men, as mixingbetween men and women is prohibited in Saudi Arabia universities, andthen there is difficulty in communicating with women. Other studies inthe future can expand the population to cover female students. Thesestudies might obtain a new factor(s) of female accounting studentsʹ desireto work as CPA in Saudi Arabia. These studies might also find somechallenges that can be attributable to female students to work as certifiedpublic accountants in Saudi Arabia.

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